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HKH 450 Radio Controlled Helicopter, or Send in the Clones.

The hobby of radio-controlled helicopters is going through a bit of a revolution at the moment. This is due to ever more cheap Trex 450 clones appearing on the market.

To explain, the 450 size helicopters are much more stable in flight than the smaller sizes, and are considered by a number of flyers as the best entry size into the radio controlled helicopter scene. The downside is that a 450 helicopter will usually set you back several hundred pound. Who wants to crash such an expensive model as that while still learning.

The answer is the clone 450 helicopter. These cheap 450 size clones from Hong Kong are now readily available through the Internet, and can be bought and delivered to your home for little over 30 each (if you're the lucky winner on an auction site).

One particularly popular helicopter is the HKH 450 size kit. I myself own two these, and can honestly say that for the money, they are ridiculously good. Once you purchase the helicopter, and have waited patiently for its arrival, it is time to open that small, plain white box. This is where the fun starts.

The kit arrives partially built (frame part built, and head completely built) but still to be fitted together. You can download the Trex450SE manual from the Internet, which is handy, since the HKH has absolutely no instructions with it. The manual shows how close these helicopters are to each other. In fact, the HKH clone is something like 90% compatible with the Trex. At this point, I must mention that the HKH head is a clone of the Trex 450SA, whereas the rest of the model is the same as the SE.

The quality of the parts is basic, but mainly acceptable. One of the weakest areas is the hex screws holding everything together. Unless you are using very good quality hex keys, they have a tendency to round out. I have heard from one owner who measured these hex screw heads, only to find that there was a small variation from screw to screw.

Another weak point is the tail gear drive. The lower gear is mounted onto a smooth shaft, and has been known to start slipping within seconds of the maiden flight. Mine started slipping less than a minute into the first flight. There are several ways to deal with this, including re-glueing the gear using either a suitable contact cement or strong locktite, or just doing what I did, and buy a better quality replacement part.

Since all you are getting for your

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